Charging - DC CHAdeMO - ecotricity

[jthspace]

Just received the following email from ecotricity which may be of interest.

Jeff

......

This is just a quick email to let you know about the updated “How To” guides on our website, featuring video demonstrations of how to use Electric Highway chargers correctly.

The videos are presented by Robert Llewellyn, they’re short, good fun and most importantly they’ll give you all the latest info on using the charge points.

Head over to our website to have a look here

http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/for-the...ail&utm_term=0_8f9a1c7994-c81aa88f15-67283393

Robert covers all the detail on connecting and disconnecting correctly, along with general etiquette for charge

He also mentions the new style CHAdeMO (DC) connector. You may have already noticed the introduction of this on some of our charge points – it’s a simpler, silver coloured connector with a yellow button on top.

To use this, simply push the connector into your vehicle to lock it into place. When your charge session has finished, press the yellow button to unlock and disconnect. It’s important not to press the yellow button when connecting up as you’ll find that it doesn’t lock in correctly and the charge attempt will fail.

Don’t forget to check our online map before you travel. You can get the latest info on each charge point, including if there any service issues.

That’s it. We hope this information will help your charging sessions run smoothly – if you have any other questions or need further info, just call us on 01453 761455 (we’re open 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday) or email [email protected]

Thanks for being with us.

The Electric Highway Team

 

[user 816]

He also hints that the communication between car and charger is still early technology and sometimes (very rarely) it screws up big time.

 

[AlEebee]

I recently had a problem with these motorway fast chargers and was told by the dealer who fixed the car "you have to follow the instructions to the letter" - I am pretty sure I did, but still...

I used the point at Warwick Services on the M40 with no problem, then a little later stopped at Stafford Services on the M6 for a comfort break and plugged in again for a top up.

When we came back to the car at Stafford the post was showing 85% & still charging, and after I had cancelled that charge and unplugged the car refused to start, saying the EV system required maintenance. Ended up getting recovered to a dealer by Mitsubishi Assist, who returned the car a couple of days later. No-one has explained exactly what was wrong, but it was repaired & returned very quickly (less than a day from delivery to the dealer to a call saying it was fixed and where did I want it trucked back to) so it almost sounds as if a big fuse went pop. It was when I telephoned to try to establish what had gone wrong that I was told "we had another Outlander PHEV in with the same problem recently. You have to follow the charging instructions on the post to the letter". Perhaps it was an issue with that particular post. Who knows?

 

[Neverfuel]

I recently had a problem with these motorway fast chargers and was told by the dealer who fixed the car "you have to follow the instructions to the letter" - I am pretty sure I did, but still...

I used the point at Warwick Services on the M40 with no problem, then a little later stopped at Stafford Services on the M6 for a comfort break and plugged in again for a top up.

When we came back to the car at Stafford the post was showing 85% & still charging, and after I had cancelled that charge and unplugged the car refused to start, saying the EV system required maintenance. Ended up getting recovered to a dealer by Mitsubishi Assist, who returned the car a couple of days later. No-one has explained exactly what was wrong, but it was repaired & returned very quickly (less than a day from delivery to the dealer to a call saying it was fixed and where did I want it trucked back to) so it almost sounds as if a big fuse went pop. It was when I telephoned to try to establish what had gone wrong that I was told "we had another Outlander PHEV in with the same problem recently. You have to follow the charging instructions on the post to the letter". Perhaps it was an issue with that particular post. Who knows?

It's not the charging point that is the problem, many others have reported the same issue and it seems that cancelling the charge is when the problem occurs. Always let the charge finish completely even if you have to wait a few minutes longer, you will only end up waiting longer for a tow truck

 

[AlEebee]

I recently had a problem with these motorway fast chargers and was told by the dealer who fixed the car "you have to follow the instructions to the letter" - I am pretty sure I did, but still...

I used the point at Warwick Services on the M40 with no problem, then a little later stopped at Stafford Services on the M6 for a comfort break and plugged in again for a top up.

When we came back to the car at Stafford the post was showing 85% & still charging, and after I had cancelled that charge and unplugged the car refused to start, saying the EV system required maintenance. Ended up getting recovered to a dealer by Mitsubishi Assist, who returned the car a couple of days later. No-one has explained exactly what was wrong, but it was repaired & returned very quickly (less than a day from delivery to the dealer to a call saying it was fixed and where did I want it trucked back to) so it almost sounds as if a big fuse went pop. It was when I telephoned to try to establish what had gone wrong that I was told "we had another Outlander PHEV in with the same problem recently. You have to follow the charging instructions on the post to the letter". Perhaps it was an issue with that particular post. Who knows?

It's not the charging point that is the problem, many others have reported the same issue and it seems that cancelling the charge is when the problem occurs. Always let the charge finish completely even if you have to wait a few minutes longer, you will only end up waiting longer for a tow truck

Only problem with that is that it was already in 'overcharge' on the fast charger when I got back to it as it should have stopped at 80%, like it did at Warwick Services

 

[greendwarf]

I used the point at Warwick Services on the M40 with no problem, then a little later stopped at Stafford Services on the M6 for a comfort break and plugged in again for a top up.

It's not the charging point that is the problem, many others have reported the same issue and it seems that cancelling the charge is when the problem occurs. Always let the charge finish completely even if you have to wait a few minutes longer, you will only end up waiting longer for a tow truck [/quote] Only problem with that is that it was already in 'overcharge' on the fast charger when I got back to it as it should have stopped at 80%, like it did at Warwick Services[/quote]

But you say "a little later" - it is known that it will charge past 80% when there is a lot of charge in the battery. Had you been running in Charge/Save and were just "topping up"? - not recommended with a Rapid Charger.

 

[AlEebee]

I used the point at Warwick Services on the M40 with no problem, then a little later stopped at Stafford Services on the M6 for a comfort break and plugged in again for a top up.

It's not the charging point that is the problem, many others have reported the same issue and it seems that cancelling the charge is when the problem occurs. Always let the charge finish completely even if you have to wait a few minutes longer, you will only end up waiting longer for a tow truck

Only problem with that is that it was already in 'overcharge' on the fast charger when I got back to it as it should have stopped at 80%, like it did at Warwick Services

But you say "a little later" - it is known that it will charge past 80% when there is a lot of charge in the battery. Had you been running in Charge/Save and were just "topping up"? - not recommended with a Rapid Charger.

Perhaps that's it then. I left Warwick and had been on the motorway mostly on SAVE except for some bits where we were crawling in traffic (saving it for when we arrived and had no charging points on the Wirral). So when we got to Stafford I had about half charge left and just thought I'd top it up while we took a break. I'll remember that on Christmas Eve when we're doing the same trip as the last thing I need that day is another recovery and a Fiat 500 as the replacement for three of us and all the Christmas paraphernalia that'll be on board that day!!

 

[fozziebear40]

STUCK AT SERVICES OVER 24 HOURS with a dead PHEV!

Our PHEV was being charged at Southwaite M6 Motorway Services on Sunday 6th December at lunchtime. (same weekend as the floods in Carlisle) and developed the same fault. Charging as we have done countless times, PHEV was completely dead!

We rang RAC, although we were south of Carlisle and on the M6, which was a clear route home, 120 miles away, we were told they could not get to us because of the floods in the area. They would use a Contractor and they will get to us as soon as possible. In the meantime, we could not use the car heater or visit the services (we have 2 dogs which are not allowed in) to keep warm.

The RAC Contractor eventually turned up at about 7.30pm. He told us he was only taking us to Lancaster (Forton) Services and to be transferred to another Contractor. The wait at Forton would be about an hour or so. This was unacceptable, so the Contractor agreed to leave us and booked us in for pick up between 9.00am and 10.00am the following morning. (This was a wise choice as we were informed the following day, the car would have not been able to be removed from the transporter as it was stuck in Park mode). We stayed at Travelodge, thank god they took dogs!

Meanwhile I rang Mitsubishi Assistance, they couldn't get to us any quicker.

When the RAC Contractor eventually turned up at about 1.00pm on Monday 7th December, he told us that as the car is electronically stuck in Park mode and it would not roll up the ramp. He had to use a winch and 'drag' it across the tarmac and onto the recovery vehicle. The wheels were locked so he'd imagined damage to tyres etc. He wouldn't be able to get the car off the back unless we went to a dealer or he had another winch to drag it off.

I rang the dealership in Carlisle, Border Cars, who said they could have a look at it.

While the car was on the back of the recovery vehicle at Border Cars, a technician with a laptop plugged into the car tried to sort it. After an hour and disconnecting the battery he eventually got it into neutral and the Contractor managed to get the car off. It would be at least overnight before the car could be fixed.

We had to get our own hire car from Europcar, the smallest and last hire car available anywhere. We had to leave our belongings in Carlisle.

I rang Border Cars the following day and our car was fixed, albeit 120 miles away. We drove up to Carlisle to collect it. No courtesy car or delivery of our own car back.

I had this from Mitsubishi...

"I can confirm that we are aware of cases whereby using independent rapid charging points has resulted in the Outlander PHEVs going into a 'failsafe' mode. This is normally experienced in the event that there is either an issue with that particular point or that the charger has been purposefully or accidently disconnected before the charging process has completed.'...

…'advise them that it is a non-start PHEV'

Nightmare weekend and over £200 out of pocket!

 

[jaapv]

Ummm.. There is a procedure to unlock the wheels in this situation. Mitsubishi should know - a good reason to use Mitsubishi recovery..
However, this cannot have been fun. Sorry to hear it.

 

[fozziebear40]

Ummm.. There is a procedure to unlock the wheels in this situation. Mitsubishi should know - a good reason to use Mitsubishi recovery..
However, this cannot have been fun. Sorry to hear it.

Yes, but Mitsubishi gave a later ETA than RAC. Why they couldn't send a recovery truck from where we live, up the M6 and back, no floods.

I felt sorry for all those flooded out in Carlisle, that must have been dreadful and put our situation in the shade, but still, expected better.

 

[jaapv]

Well, I see, but even the RAC should know, or at least where to ask.

Or visit this forum:

From Tips and Tricks:

To unlock the transmission brake:

Hold the gear lever to the right, keep the hand brake and foot brake on and then press the start key

 

[fozziebear40]

Is it proved to work when this shut down fault is present though? The Mitsubishi dealer took an hour to get the car into neutral.

 

[jaapv]

The member who reported this information was stuck at a ChaDeMo charger, just like you. It was the way the Mitsu bloke got it onto the trailer.

The post is somewhere around.

 

[fozziebear40]

Mitsubishi don't want to know!! Say fault with charging unit, ecotricity said no! Power cut could have caused it in Carlisle with floods I think.

MAP couldn't rescue us quicker than RAC. They said they would have got us a car from Enterprise, I'd already told them Enterprise didn't have any cars even the branch further out at Penrith.

Bloody annoyed, over £200 and 2 working days stuck at motorway services!!

 

[jamerg]

Does anyone know whether Mitsubishi or Electrocity have got to the bottom of this?

I have just got my PHEV and am having a homecharging point installed so am not going to bother shelling out £100 for a fast charging cable. However, I had ordered an Electrocity card for the odd motorway top up on longer journeys as I thought: (a) it's free; and (b) I can use the tethered DC CHAdeMO chargers. In particular, I was intending to top up just before the channel tunnel when we drove to the alps in 6 weeks. Now I'm thinking it's not worth the risk and I'll just save the charge from home for when I get to the alps...

 

[greendwarf]

Does anyone know whether Mitsubishi or Electrocity have got to the bottom of this?

I have just got my PHEV and am having a homecharging point installed so am not going to bother shelling out £100 for a fast charging cable. However, I had ordered an Electrocity card for the odd motorway top up on longer journeys as I thought: (a) it's free; and (b) I can use the tethered DC CHAdeMO chargers. In particular, I was intending to top up just before the channel tunnel when we drove to the alps in 6 weeks. Now I'm thinking it's not worth the risk and I'll just save the charge from home for when I get to the alps...

Still think the jury is out on this but when I did the trip last year, I just used Save from the last home charge to smugly drive on to the tunnel train in non-pollution mode. I don't think you would really benefit much even if you did have the 20 miles EV from a fast charger anyway, as you will quickly use it up once you get into the mountains. I just took to opportunity of some long descents on the way to boost the battery particularly for (again smugly) driving round the resort in silence

 

[maby]

Does anyone know whether Mitsubishi or Electrocity have got to the bottom of this?

I have just got my PHEV and am having a homecharging point installed so am not going to bother shelling out £100 for a fast charging cable. However, I had ordered an Electrocity card for the odd motorway top up on longer journeys as I thought: (a) it's free; and (b) I can use the tethered DC CHAdeMO chargers. In particular, I was intending to top up just before the channel tunnel when we drove to the alps in 6 weeks. Now I'm thinking it's not worth the risk and I'll just save the charge from home for when I get to the alps...

A lot of people have successfully used rapid chargers many times, but equally there have been several who have found their car completely locked up and have had to wait many hours for Mitsubishi to fix it. If you are going to be away for a week or two and driving a couple of thousand miles, that last minute charge is going to make virtually no difference to your fuel economy or the operation of the car, so why take the risk when the consequence of a failure could be missing your crossing with corresponding delays and costs? Battery charge still drifts down even when Save is selected, so I guess you are still going to end up with a flat battery before you get back home unless you use the Charge button from time to time.

 

[jamerg]

Yeah - definitely doesn't seem worth the risk.

I was just conscious of having some battery left in the alps in order to be able to "lock" the car into 4WD properly. Am I right in thinking if the battery has all gone the petrol engine will only drive the front wheels or am I worrying about nothing?

I've also read on here that you need to switch the traction control off before hitting the 4WD lock button in order to make 4WD work effectively, which seems weird.

I really like the PHEV after having it for a couple of weeks but (even as someone who likes to think of myself as fairly tech-savy for a middle aged guy) I have to say that the operation of it could be more intuitive. Thanks goodness for this forum!

 

[maby]

Yeah - definitely doesn't seem worth the risk.

I was just conscious of having some battery left in the alps in order to be able to "lock" the car into 4WD properly. Am I right in thinking if the battery has all gone the petrol engine will only drive the front wheels or am I worrying about nothing?

I've also read on here that you need to switch the traction control off before hitting the 4WD lock button in order to make 4WD work effectively, which seems weird.

I really like the PHEV after having it for a couple of weeks but (even as someone who likes to think of myself as fairly tech-savy for a middle aged guy) I have to say that the operation of it could be more intuitive. Thanks goodness for this forum!

I don't think the 4WD lock issue is relevant in this case. It is certainly true that the petrol engine can only drive the front wheels directly, but that only applies when you get into parallel hybrid mode - at speeds over something like 45mph. At lower speeds, the car is always driven by the electric motors - either drawing their power from the battery or from the generator driven by the petrol engine. Even at higher speeds, it is rare for the car to run for long in pure front-wheel drive - the more common configuration is for the petrol engine to drive the front wheels directly and also produce some generator output to provide electrical drive to the rear wheels if there is not sufficient charge in the battery to drive them. It is probably the case that at high speeds the bulk of the power driving the car is going through the front wheels, but you don't really need 4WD at motorway speeds anyway.

It is also true that you should turn off traction control on poor road surfaces where you need 4WD to keep moving. If you don't, then the 4WD lock and traction control effectively fight each other - traction control works by detecting that one wheel has lost grip and is spinning by applying the brake to that wheel to bring the speed back down. 4WD lock works by ensuring that that all wheels are driven at the same speed.

 

[jamerg]

That's really helpful maby - thanks